


to become liquid light / when in love

by starbboy



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Green Lantern (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Homophobia is vaugely referenced in two paragraphs not graphic or anything but be careful folks, M/M, also background pining halguyjohn bc why not, it's just plotless ramblings of kyle being gay, only for two lines but i might write something about either that or steph if i feel up to it, shit how do I tag this, some weird au I came up with where jay and kyle are immortal higher powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:07:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26283160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starbboy/pseuds/starbboy
Summary: Jason is, like all he represents, creates and is drawn to, a set of extremes and Kyle is unquestionably in love with him.
Relationships: Kyle Rayner/Jason Todd
Comments: 10
Kudos: 69





	to become liquid light / when in love

**Author's Note:**

> this is just poetic word vomit around a half fleshed out au of mine might write more if inspiration strikes but i have 3 other big wips rn so maybe not for a bit

Kyle sometimes thinks it’s ironic that out of the two of them, he is the one who creates the stars. Then again, maybe it’s not irony at all, but misplaced stereotypes, years of literature and art interpreting wrong. “But there is no wrong interpretation!” A scholar, a student or just some fool trying to justify something outlandish might cry. And maybe there aren't, interpretations are not meant to always be correct, but the hundreds of years Kyle has watched as humanity misinterprets his lover has made him picky. 

It is such a shame to watch as humanity, once again, picks the wrong idea to emphasise. History is doomed to repeat the same mistakes, he supposes, especially when it comes to the little things.

Jason doesn’t mind too much though. Kyle would almost say it amuses him. The corner of his mouth flicks up further easily when Kyle brings it up, watching the sunset from the Alps. The gold-within-white streaks scattered in his hair glow as he turns to face Kyle, musing that the stereotypes do have merit, maybe not to him now but definitely to his past, when the shadows were his hiding place, and not just effects of what he created. He has traits from before and traits of the clouds and sun he creates now.

It does not surprise Kyle that his lover only names the less desirable ones, he says that he is harsh, like the strongest of the sun's rays, he can be abrupt, switching from emotional extreme to emotional extreme, not unlike the shifting clouds that bring about uncertainty when seen on the horizon.

Kyle huffs then, pointing out the similarities that are more important because yes Jason is harsh and emotional but he is also inviting in the way lingering warmth may be, it entertains Kyle that his sunshine never seems to understand how much children like him. He is unwaveringly stubborn, which, yes Jason, is sometimes frustrating but Kyle likes to think of it as more endearing, he is not one to go against his beliefs and not one to back down. He is an eternal comfort, someone Kyle can always rely on, the way people look forward to sunlight, and that, he can safely say, is something that soothes him.

That is not to say the clouds are not beautiful too, Kyle continues smiling as small wisps of the sun's rays stir on his lover’s cheeks, everything Jason creates is a marvel, all he speaks into existence is a wonder to behold but words are not Kyle chosen form of expression so he could not begin to explain it. He traces drawings down Jason’s arms after that smiling as the streaks of gold and red and orange move around on his skin, following Kyle’s finger.

* * *

Kyle is a traveller. He has no need to move around, settling down is no chore for him, but it’s nice. He likes to see the world; it changes so often that it’s hard to keep up but it’s fascinating to experience. The earth is, compared to all the stars Kyle has built, seemingly insignificant, yet he cannot find one corner that is ever the same as the other, he adores it.

His friends are less taken with it. Donna got tired of the corruption rampant in humans after a while, she visits, but it always feels slightly _removed_ hanging out on earth with her. Guy visits but never forms any emotional attachment, hook-ups and fights, sometimes it’s easier not to have the nagging feeling of missing something so big. John and Hal rarely visit anymore. Hal has his friends but Earth is no more than a quick break for him now. And John chooses to be closed off, of all of them he was the most cautious before and after he fell in love with and then mourned a wonderful warrior woman, Katma he recalls her name was, he stopped visiting entirely. Kyle has a sneaking suspicion that there’s another reason as to why John and Hal stay away, and that that reason happens to be their feelings towards the blazing fireball that is the fourth member of their little group, the only member who works with daylight, but Kyle doesn’t want to pry. At least not yet.

Jason is on Earth a lot as well, though he doesn’t travel, not much anyway. He’ll accompany Kyle sometimes, hands or arms linked and they wander, watching oil lamps be lit up in Croatia or buying beaded animal figurines in South Africa, long past are the days when they worried about walking around hand in hand, of feeling paranoid while kissing on empty streets. They have no need to be cautious, and Kyle takes that as the blessing it is, for he knows it is not an opportunity granted to most. They can’t be saved from the looks and shouts, but it is not hard to tune out the unsavoury things humans yell, after so much time among them.

But in a way Kyle finds so achingly endearing Jason doesn’t travel looking for beauty and light, he is instead drawn to suffering to the dirt and filth and struggle to stay afloat, all of which culminates in him being drawn to Gotham, New Jersey.

The sun doesn’t shine there, clouds aren’t ever natural. Children don’t believe the stars exist as they run from street to street getting lost in a labyrinth of grey scale and crime and their lungs breathe in nothing but chemicals. Gotham is a city of violent extremes, and perhaps that is why Jason likes it so much, why he plays with the poor children and talks to working girls, scowls at those so rich their money is the least fabricated thing about them and patrols desperate to make just a dent in the suffering, to allow the clouds to part just once. This was his home once maybe, this was what shaped him, but he got out and so he is just an oddly welcome stranger.

Lady Gotham, a smiling tired blonde girl with hopes of med school and a past that would be considered a tragedy anywhere else, is wary of Jason, he is both Gotham down to his bones and an intruder unable to be claimed. They get along though, Lady Gotham (Stephanie, she insisted they call her) and Jason, they are too similar not to. He buys her coffee as she rambles speaking of a hospital too understaffed and too overrun (always to extremes) and sits with her as she yells with what little hope she has left curled behind her heart.

There is a reason she is the Lady of Gotham though; her determination sings louder than her suffering and her jaw is jutted out in defiance as she rises above what she was expected to become. Kyle understands the choice, she represents what little hope this city has left, those who get up and out. He can get why Jason likes her, why Jason visits Gotham (he doesn’t like the city, not as a whole) so often, compelled to check in each time he is on earth.

The other place he goes is across the globe, between mountains and silence under a blanket of secrecy. If Gotham is untouched by the sun, Nanda Parbat is burned by it, the mountains are dry and the heat sticks to hair and skin in layers of water, making people huff. Nanda Parbat sees the beauty of the sun, Kyle can admit the sunrises are like no other, but it also sees the harsh extremes, there is no plant life, unless carefully cultivated and sand is a parasite that sticks to all it can, but still Jason visits. 

There is a boy there, young and stubborn, carefully moulded to belong, to rule, yet clearly out of place. He is similar to Jason in so many aspects, yet he is glaringly his own person, in a world where he should not be allowed to. He is blunt and harsh, in a grander way than Jason can ever hope to be, not that he does, but so young with so much holding him down. Jason often remarks that perhaps his place is far from here, in Gotham, New Jersey. He should introduce Damian to Stephanie, his lover muses, they would be friends. Kyle thinks maybe they could be, but they could also be enemies (always the extremes), either way, it is not Kyle’s place to decide.

There is a woman there as well, mixing regality and ambition with a level headed composure, she is to Nanda Parbat what Stephanie is to Gotham, however much she does not want to be. She sacrifices her happiness for so much, but holds herself high, she is proud of her abilities at least. She is cold by nurture and warm by choice, she wishes to leave, to take her son and escape but she’s so ingrained in life here that she cannot. But she is kind to Jason, in the same reserved uptight way she is loving to her son, and maybe that is all that matters.

Gotham chose Stephanie for all her hope despite past tragedy and Nanda Parbat chose Talia with her lost hope and decisions she made that hindered her.

And Kyle watches as Jason loves these places so fervently, with all the crime and death and suffering that surrounds them and he sits with him as Jason tries to make the clouds a little cleaner, the Sun a little cooler, a little more bearable, for the people that he has grown attached to. It won’t inspire Kyle to look for anguish, he is still attracted to beauty and laughter and light, but maybe it inspires him to love Jason a little more.

* * *

He is an artist, he creates visuals, something to look at and admire and he can't help but love and find beauty wherever he is. He has seen so much, admired so much, it is wonderfully easy to find lovely things if you are actively looking for them.

Yet he can say that, without a doubt, Jason is the most beautiful.

He is, like all he represents, creates and is drawn to, a set of extremes. He scattered strands of while light in black hair, golden, glowing freckles against harsh expressions, streams of bright light stretching across dark skin. 

He is narrowed grey eyes that flash with storms and reflect green, he is the curl of lips reminiscent of a harp, with which he sings soft and low and screams harshly, bronze running down his cheeks. He is grounded and calm and practical as he creates clouds.

He is raucous laughter and harsh retorts, eyes flashing with streaks of electric blue as he argues with those who cause suffering.

There is a scar on his chest, two prongs of lightning starting at his collarbones, converging into one at his sternum, it is out of place, he does not deal with storms for all that they rage in his eyes, Guy is similar in that respect, though thunder follows him more often.

Lightning is beautiful, Kyle admits, but it is loud, sudden, seething and even Jason may present himself similarly, Kyle knows his lover is not that, he is soft, in a way that seems odd at first but expected after a while.

It is in his gentleness, that Kyle realises his beauty most often, because anger is stunning, yes but it is also fleeting and brings consequences steeped in fear and ugliness. 

Jason radiates tranquillity when calm, he is languid, fluid in the way Kyle might associate with a cat. He is open, both with his expression and to suggestions. He is affectionate as well, draping himself over Kyle with an inexplainable form of grace. He is warm, some form of emotional personal heater that Kyle wouldn’t trade for the world.

* * *

They are not married on human terms, even with all the resources at their hands that could let them, they have no need to be, it means nothing to them.

There is, however, a sliver of starlight that winds its way around the lightning scar on Jason’s chest, definitively Kyle’s with the range of colours it shines in and the way it moves. His lover does not show the scar to the world often enough for it to be noticeable, but it doesn’t have to be, as long as they are aware of it, they are content.

And on Kyle’s lower back, a lot more open to scrutiny lies a half sun, rays shooting out and curling around his torso when he is particularly impassioned. It does not clash, as people expect it might, but instead twists with what is already there to create a tapestry on his skin and Kyle likes to consider that a metaphor for him and Jason. 

His lover laughs and calls him ridiculous, with a fondness that makes him feel light when Kyle tells him this, there is no further statement on the comment as he leans against him, curled up in some abandoned flat as they listen to the sound of civilisation outside. It has always been more calming for Jason but Kyle doesn’t mind, there is some familiarity in the way people interact and the contentment on Jason’s face is enough to block out any negative deja vu. 

They are not married, no. Marriage is a human concept, it offers benefits but only if you abide by the limitations of mortality. But they are partners, and everyone is aware of that fact. They are not subtle, and why should they be? Jason is more cautious when they are on Earth, discrimination is another awfully human concept, not one of the ones that intrigues them, however, even then it is not hard to put two and two together. Attacks do them little harm, leaving them angry more than anything as silver slivers in Kyle’s expanding and the clouds above them darkening. It is easy to unsettle people, and most wisely stay away after that.

There is no union under god for them, they are the closest thing to any gods that this Earth will get but that does not mean they love each other less. Loving Jason has become the easiest thing in the world for him over all the time they’ve been together and he knows Jason loves him back fervently, there is poetry spoken in private moments and kisses that warm him up slowly that can attest to that. They love each other, it is second nature for them to do so and routine in a way that still thrills Kyle after so long.

Because they have been together for a while, and Kyle knows Jason in his completion, as well as he knows himself if not better. And that is such a wonderful realisation to have, he thinks.

Kyle is aware they all have a higher purpose, all of them do. No one can truly define it but they know what it is. But some days, days where the sky is grey and he and Jason lie curled up in some cosy human flat they somehow managed to acquire, he thinks he was created just to exist in Jason’s presence.

It would be a wonderful existence to have, he tells his lover, head curled up by Jason’s shoulder as he reads.

Yes, his lover, his sun, his Jason agrees, that would be nice.

**Author's Note:**

> pls leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed and come ask me about this au on tumblr at [starboysdcdumpster](https://starboysdcdumpster.tumblr.com/) ,, maybe
> 
> dw the next part of waiting for it is on it's way!! i have it written out and i'm writing the part after next rn which i'm struggling with slightly, might post it soon anyway.  
> i'm also taking part in the dcu rarepair challenge and my story accidentally got out of control and is now 10k and still unfinished whoops.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Up On The Roof](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27875722) by [Crossover_Critter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crossover_Critter/pseuds/Crossover_Critter)




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